


unfamiliar

by amybri2002



Series: febuwhump 2021 [12]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Physical Abuse, Pre-Series, Trust Issues, kid!virgil, pre-teen!virgil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:26:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29383428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amybri2002/pseuds/amybri2002
Summary: After running away from the Dark, Anxiety meets Morality.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: febuwhump 2021 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138040
Comments: 4
Kudos: 55





	unfamiliar

**Author's Note:**

> day twelve!!! today’s prompt was ‘who are you?’. does this fic relate to that? technically, but mostly i just wanted an excuse to write a virgil-meeting-the-light-sides-for-the-first-time-fic, so here we are. hope y’all enjoy this <3

Virgil ran. 

He wasn’t entirely sure where he was running to, what he was going to do when he got there, how he was supposed to survive in the mindscape all on his own, but… surely anywhere was better than here. He’d rather starve to death hidden somewhere in the labyrinth that was Thomas’ mind than stay in the Dark and allow one of the others to murder him in cold blood. 

Is that what they wanted to do? They… said that they were just teaching him a lesson, but Deceit used to teach him stuff all the time but that never ended in a black eye and cuts all over his body, certainly never  _ started  _ with violence, just… 

He knew he was just being a coward. Any of the others would be able to handle it, he was just… scared little Anxiety, a waste of space, a waste of food, a waste of air. He’d been told so, time and time again, so… it must be true. 

Deceit never thought that, but… then again, Deceit lied all the time, he didn’t… 

Virgil felt tears rolling down his cheeks, heart rate increasing in his chest. He- He knew that he shouldn’t have run, that this will only make it worse, it always ended up worse when he tried to escape, eventually they’d all find him again and he- 

He… 

What if there were more people outside of the Dark?

What if… 

_ What if they were worse?  _

He slowed down, leaning back against the wall, slowly sinking down to the floor and bunching up his knees, trying to breathe, trying to calm down. Why did he think that running would change anything? In the whole twelve years of his existence, things had never changed, the others had never been any kinder to him, they’d just hurt him over and over again. And he knew that he deserved it, most of the time, knew that it was needed sometimes, he knew he should just suck it up, he just… 

He  _ hated  _ it. In every way. 

Maybe he should just turn back. Yeah, they’d just hurt him again, but… maybe if he turned up sooner, they wouldn’t give him that much of an extra punishment, maybe he could still bargain with them. Few days without dinner? He… already didn’t get an awful lot to eat, but at least the others wouldn’t have to worry about him then at all, maybe they could just forget about him for that time. It would be a win-win. 

But no, no, he… couldn’t turn back, he didn’t want them to hurt him again. Ever. He… 

He could survive out here, it would be okay. Yeah, he was… scared of everything, couldn’t even cook for himself, didn’t know a single thing about survival, but… but he could do it, he… 

He heard footsteps, echoing down the hall, and immediately stiffened. Had they found him already? Please- Please no, he already couldn’t breathe between the panic, if- if they tried to hurt him, he’d- 

“Hello?” a voice said above him, sounding calm, concerned… soft. Virgil wasn’t used to hearing people sounding like that. It still made him flinch, burying his head into his knees. Maybe- Maybe they wouldn’t even notice him, maybe they’d just… “Are you-“ 

A hand landed on Virgil’s shoulder, and he immediately jumped back, staring up at the newcomer, starting to hyperventilate. He found himself raising his arms to his face, as if shielding himself. A reaction like that would surely just result in even more pain, fuck, he- 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you,” the stranger said, voice still calm. 

This… had to be a trick, surely, he was just… building up a false sense of security, so that the eventual strike was even worse, but… no one had ever done that before, had they? That… wasn’t how it worked… 

“Can you take a deep breath for me, please?” the stranger requested, and Virgil found himself trying to comply straight away, he didn’t want this person to be angry with him, but- but he still couldn’t, too panicked, only growing  _ more  _ panicked as his breath faltered, he wasn’t doing what this guy wanted, he- they were going to be angry, he was- “Shh, it’s okay, you don’t have to get it right on the first go,” the guy tried to encourage. 

Virgil still couldn’t seem to get ahold of himself, desperate gasping for air, finding that his breaths came out weak, strangled. “Sorry, sorry, I- I’m t-trying, I- Please, I’m trying, d-don’t-“ 

“Shhhh,” the stranger continued, moving a little closer to Virgil, only for him to flinch back again. “It’s okay, just try to focus on me. Breathe in for four seconds-“ 

Virgil obediently looked over at the stranger, vision blurry from tears, and… tried his best to comply, sucking in a breath, however shallow. 

“Now hold for seven seconds-“ 

Virgil tried to hold his breath, as instructed, body trembling as he waited for- for something, surely this guy was going to do  _ something _ , but… nothing came. 

“Now breathe out for eight seconds-“ 

Again, Virgil did as instructed, slowly inhaling. He’d done it, there was- there was no reason for this guy to get mad now. Maybe he’d… go a little easier on him, now. 

“Well done, now let’s try to keep that up, okay? In for four-“ 

The stranger continued to lead Virgil through the exercise for a short while, Virgil wasn’t sure how long it took, but eventually Virgil’s breathing had evened out, body not quite as tense, mind not racing so much. He blinked away his tears, trying to wipe some of them away, and looked up again to get a proper look at the stranger, without tears blurring his vision now. 

He looked older than Virgil - in his twenties, maybe? Almost thirty? He had kind eyes behind round glasses, freckles across his cheeks, wearing a light blue polo shirt with a grey cardigan wrapped around his shoulder like a cape. Virgil wasn’t used to people looking so… non-threatening, looking like they genuinely cared. It had to be a mask, surely. Again, just… building up a false sense of security. 

Then again, this man had been able to pull Virgil out of that panic, even if he was… still shaking, a little, still watching him warily, still utterly convinced that he was about to strike him. 

Maybe this guy wanted Virgil to be more aware, so he… understood what was going on when he eventually did attack him. Understand why he was doing it. 

Teach him a lesson. 

He shouldn’t be here. 

This wasn’t the Dark mindscape, what if- what if this guy was angry at Virgil for trespassing, or whatever? He wasn’t supposed to be here. 

The guy reached out towards him, and Virgil immediately flinched back. “Wh-Who are you?” he asked, cringing at how shaky his voice was, how terrified he still sounded.  _ Coward.  _

“Oh! Sorry, I haven’t even introduced myself.” He let out a light chuckle, which only seemed to confuse Virgil, made him wonder what the hell this guy's game was. “I’m Morality,” he introduced. “Who are you? Are you… another side?” He tilted his head. 

Virgil took a moment to reply, wondering whether he could trust Morality with his function - he didn’t even know that Virgil was a  _ side _ , let alone… He took in a deep breath, slowly exhaling. It wasn’t like he had a choice - he might get angry if Virgil didn’t respond. “Anxiety.” 

Morality nodded a little, shifting so that he sat besides Virgil. An equal level. Virgil wasn’t sure whether this was worse than towering above him. “Are you… okay? I mean… I guess not, after whatever just happened, but-“ 

“I’m fine,” Virgil mumbled, looking away. As much as he didn’t want it to happen, he… kinda wished that Morality would just get on with it. Hit him, or whatever. The tension was killing him. 

Morality shuffled closer, and Virgil’s shoulder tensed, but he didn’t move away this time. Maybe that was why Morality hadn’t started yet? Because he kept moving away? 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Morality said, sounding… surprisingly sincere. It felt unfamiliar, to Virgil, though he… still didn’t believe it. “Or be angry with you, or whatever you think. I…” He sighed, twisting his body to face Virgil. “How did you get here?” 

Virgil kept his gaze forcised on the floor ahead. “I ran here. I can… go back, if you don’t want me here, that’s- that’s fine-“ 

“Hey, no, I-“ He paused for a moment. “Do you want to go back?” 

Virgil hesitated, wondering if this was some sort of trick - was there a right answer? Would it be worse if he said the wrong thing? Eventually, though, he slowly shook his head, deciding that honesty might be the best way to go. 

“Then you don’t have to go back,” Morality promised. Something about that made Virgil relax. “I… Could you look at me, for a moment?” 

All of that easiness immediately washed out of Virgil, quickly becoming nervous again, but still, he did as he was asked. Morality’s face fell as soon as he got a proper look at him. 

“Who- Who did this to you?” he asked, sounding… genuinely heartbroken. Yet again, an unfamiliar tone. 

Virgil just shrugged, looking down, avoiding eye contact. In fairness, he… couldn’t really remember which one did  _ this  _ to him, specifically, everything had been a blur. 

Morality hummed, trying to stay calm. “How about you come back with me? We can get you some ice for that, and Logic may be able to help with some of those cuts…” 

Virgil wasn’t quite sure what to say. It… confused him, that Morality wanted to… help? Is this what this was? 

Before Virgil could stop himself, he found himself crying. 

He wasn’t entirely sure why - was he overwhelmed? Afraid? 

...happy? 

“Oh, kiddo-“ Morality opened his arms, and Virgil instinctively flinched back at the sudden movement. Morality seemed distressed at that, soon lowering his arms again. “Sorry, I… can I give you a hug?” 

That only made Virgil even  _ more  _ confused. The only person who’d ever hugged him before was Deceit, and even that was rare, only on special occasions. Why would… 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Morality said,  _ again _ . “I just… you look like you need a hug.” 

Virgil glanced up at him, gulping, before he… slowly nodded, edging towards Morality, into his opening arms. Morality smiled, softly, hugging Virgil back, and… it wasn’t awful. It was actually rather nice. Not a hint of anger, no ulterior motives, just… 

Kindness? 

That was unfamiliar to Virgil, too. 

“Shh, shh, you’re okay,” Morality murmured, holding on to Virgil tightly, gently rocking him back and forth, rubbing his back. “I’ve got you. You can stay with me, alright? I’ll take good care of you.” 

Virgil sniffled, burying his head in Morality’s shoulder. Maybe… Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad? Morality hadn’t laid a hand on him so far, maybe he genuinely did not want to cause any harm, maybe… 

It was all so, so unfamiliar to Virgil, but… he didn’t hate it. 

After a while, Morality pulled away, moving to stand up. “What do you say then, kiddo? You wanna come home with me?” He offered out a hand. 

Managing to smile a little, Virgil took it. 


End file.
